WALDWICK — The line stretched two full blocks on either side by the time the motorcade drove beneath the giant American flag, stretched over East Prospect Street between the ladders of two firetrucks.

Staff Sgt. Joseph D'Augustine, the 29-year-old Marine killed in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan one week ago, was coming home.

"Everybody's been getting together," American Legion Post 57 Commander James Leonard told NJ.com. "We're uniting to show a supportive front for the D'Augustine family."

Service members, emergency responders and residents of Waldwick and surrounding towns met the motorcade escorting D'Augustine's body from Dover, Delaware when it arrived in Waldwick just after noon on Tuesday.

The crowd stretched from Wayne Court to the corner of East Prospect Street and the Franklin Turnpike, where the American Legion set up a memorial to D'Augustine: a relief of the Marine in camouflage, set against a backdrop of the American flag and statue of liberty.

D'Augustine, who grew up in Waldwick and wrestled and played football for Waldwick High School, was a member at Post 57.

"Every time he was in town, he would come in," Leonard said. "He was always a great guy, he was always focused. He had that spark in his eye where you knew, this guy had it."

"Joe was just a really loving guy," recalled Tatiana Marquis, one of D'Augustine's classmates from Waldwick High School. "He was really light hearted and really his mission was always to make people laugh and make them happy and we're all honored to know him."

Marquis and other former classmates stood roadside awaiting the motorcade, wearing light blue T-shirts with the seal of the U.S. Marines emblazoned on the front. On the back was the number 4 — D'Augustine's number from his years playing football at Waldwick High School — and "Daggo," his high school nickname.

"It started off that we were just going to order 10 or 15 shirts, and then we started getting a lot of feedback from people," Marquis told NJ.com. "The first order was 50, the second order was another 50 and we have a third batch of 50 shirts coming in."

"I think it's just amazing how everyone has come together," she said. "I don't put it past Waldwick, though, because that's just the way we are. Whenever anything tragic happens, we all come together. I think people have proven it this time around that we're all here for each other."

The motorcade passed quickly down East Prospect Street before turning onto Franklin Turnpike, headed toward Saint Luke's Roman Catholic Church just over the border in Ho-Ho-Kus. D'Augustine's casket was carried into the church by his fellow Marines, draped in an American flag, for a private ceremony.

A public viewing started at 2 p.m. and will continue until 9 p.m. D'Augustine will be buried at St. Luke's following a funeral mass on Wednesday.